From the earliest years of Napachie’s career, Bird Spirits is one of the most delightfully magical Cape Dorset print images of the period. It offers a glimpse into the old stories and myths that influenced many of the artist’s early works on paper. Presented against a lightly rolled and/or sponged background, the stark, black-inked figures are bold against the textured blue. Much like her other early works, the story may not have been taken from Napachie’s immediate experience:

I have never seen a spirit. Perhaps if I saw a spirit, I would have a heart attack. I have heard people talking about having seen spirits. It would be quite a different story to me if I had seen one.
—Napachie in Leroux et al ed., Inuit Women Artists, 1994, p. 139.

References: For an overview of the artist’s life and work, see Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson and Minnie Aodla Freeman, ed., Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Gatineau: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994), p. 133-157. See also Leslie Boyd Ryan and Darlene Coward Wight, Napachie Pootoogook, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2004), and Leslie Boyd Ryan, "Mannaruluujujuq" (Not So Long Ago): The Memories of Napachie Pootoogook," Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3, Fall 2005, p. 9-16. See also Jean Blodgett, et.al. Three Women, Three Generations: Drawings by Pitseolak Ashoona, Napatchie Pootoogook and Shuvinai Ashoona, (Kleinberg, ON: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1999).